Disciplinary Convergence in Scientific Collaboration: Using storytelling as a research integration mechanism

Cross-disciplinary research is crucial for tackling ‘wicked’ problems like sustainability transitions. Nevertheless, scientific collaboration is often hampered by disciplinary divergence in communication. Storytelling has facilitated bonding and knowledge transfer among humans throughout history. We argue that storytelling and storytelling techniques can facilitate scientific collaboration as a common language vehicle. Well-designed research stories transcend highly specialized disciplinary vocabularies and are accessible to audiences from any background. Combining storytelling elements such as character and plot, we explore the further potential of storytelling as disciplinary convergence mechanism.

In this research presentation, we investigate the application of storytelling methods to the disciplinary convergence of researchers involved in a Dutch project through three workshops. This paper presents 1) a brief review of storytelling applications in cross-disciplinary research, 2) our approach to deploying storytelling methods for disciplinary convergence, and 3) the results of its application. Workshop participants indicated that employing storytelling techniques helped them recognize their target audiences and enhanced their understanding of each other’s research projects.